The next day, Konoha Village's Cipher Division successively received urgent letters from the Land of Waves and the Land of Rivers. After successfully deciphering them, they did not dare to delay and immediately handed them to the Hokage.
Given the gravity of the matter, the Third Hokage could not act unilaterally. He summoned Danzo Shimura, Utatane Koharu, Homura Mitokado, the three Advisors, and Nara Shikaku, the Hokage's Chief of Staff. The five of them discussed the matter together.
Since the letters mentioned the missing gold problem that Asuma had brought up, the Third Hokage did not show the letters to the four, but instead verbally recounted the events: "...That's how it is. Kakashi's Team 7 encountered Zabuza Momochi, a Rogue Ninja from Hidden Mist Village, in the Land of Waves, while Asuma's Team 10 encountered Raiga Kurosuki from Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Rivers. One in the Land of Waves, one in the Land of Rivers."
The Third Hokage was quite proud of his son's achievements, and his tone unconsciously lightened by two points: "Raiga Kurosuki was captured by Team 10, and as for Zabuza Momochi... Kakashi believes that Zabuza Momochi only faked his death and was very likely rescued by his companion. Currently, Team 7 is searching for Zabuza's whereabouts in the Land of Waves."
The Third Hokage cleared his throat: "I called you all here to discuss this matter. How should we deal with Raiga Kurosuki and Zabuza Momochi, these two Rogue Ninja from Hidden Mist Village?"
Danzo was the first to question: "Asuma, with three freshly graduated Genin, was able to capture Raiga Kurosuki from Hidden Mist Village alive? Hiruzen, this intelligence of yours is too fake."
The Third Hokage smiled slightly and threw the Lightning Blade, which had been brought back with the letter, in front of Danzo: "Say that again? Is it fake?"
Danzo had been slapped in the face too many times and was already used to it. He inspected the Lightning Blade; it was genuine. This item was indeed a Ninja Blade from Hidden Mist Village.
He immediately changed his tune: "Raiga Kurosuki and Zabuza Momochi are both members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. They must know many secrets. Have Asuma and Kakashi bring the captives back to the Village and hand them over to Root. I will extract all the intelligence from the heads of these two Rogue Ninja."
To be fair, Danzo's handling method was very much like a Ninja. If this were wartime, doing so would be reasonable and logical. If an elite Jonin from the enemy was captured, wouldn't some methods be used? Are you kidding me?
The problem was that it was not wartime now. Hidden Mist Village and Konoha Village were not allies, but they were not enemies either.
Even one Rogue Ninja of this caliber was difficult to handle, let alone two. The Third Hokage was very worried about a chain reaction.
Shikaku, as the Third Hokage's confidant, naturally knew his thoughts and spoke for him at this moment.
"Hokage-sama, three Advisors, I believe that since the Rogue Ninja from Hidden Mist Village have been captured by our side, in order to preserve the friendship between the two Ninja Villages, it would be more appropriate to hand them over for their own disposal."
Utatane Koharu said with a fake smile: "Friendship? Have we ever had friendship with Hidden Mist Village? Shikaku, I remember Raiga Kurosuki killed one of your relatives during the Third Shinobi World War, didn't he?"
Shikaku nodded: "Yes."
"Don't you want revenge?"
"Advisor, the war is over."
The old lady did not speak again, while Homura Mitokado brought up another issue: "Raiga Kurosuki is already in our hands. Even if we return him, will Hidden Mist Village not think that we have already stolen some intelligence?"
The Third Hokage and Shikaku both fell silent. They were also worried about this. You say this captive came into our hands, and we didn't secretly check for intelligence, didn't tamper with anything? Who would believe that!
Everyone's bottom line was actually very low, and their mutual trust was almost zero.
Konoha Village's proactive goodwill could very easily trigger a negative effect.
Shikaku pondered for a moment: "Actually, Raiga Kurosuki and Zabuza Momochi are not important. Even if they return to Hidden Mist Village, they will not gain enough trust. They could be monitored, or even imprisoned for life."
He looked at the four elders: "The future of the Village is actually the most important. For Hidden Mist Village, which is facing a generational gap, the two children, Haku and Ranmaru, mentioned by Kakashi and Asuma, are of the highest value. Genrou is far-sighted and single-mindedly wants Hidden Mist Village to stay away from the Shinobi World War. Even if the radical factions in Hidden Mist Village have opinions, with Genrou's prestige and the support of the conservative factions, he can suppress the opposition. We might as well use this opportunity to improve relations with Hidden Mist Village."
Genrou, in his words, was the current de facto ruler of Hidden Mist Village.
Genrou was once a subordinate of the First Mizukage and has since been an elder in the Village.
The old man is 90 years old this year! Apart from Kakuzu of the Akatsuki Organization, there is no Ninja in the current Ninja World older than Genrou.
The Third Hokage is 69 years old this year, undoubtedly an old man in the Ninja World, but compared to Genrou, he is still a generation younger.
The older people are, the more they value generational matters.
Shikaku's words aligned with his thoughts, and the Third Hokage spoke to support his confidant: "If we hand those two children over to Hidden Mist Village, Genrou should have enough wisdom to judge our goodwill. Hidden Mist Village has also abandoned its previous cruel rule. From a long-term perspective, we can try to cooperate with Hidden Mist Village."
Towards the end, he even expressed his own aspirations: "If we can form an alliance with Hidden Mist Village, and add Hidden Sand Village, with three great Ninja Villages united, even if there are changes in Hidden Cloud Village and Iwagakure in the future, we can remain invincible."
Danzo snorted. He had always disagreed with the Third Hokage's alliance strategy.
Konoha Village is so strong, is there a need to ally with a weakling like Hidden Sand Village?
He said: "Hiruzen, I still believe that extracting the intelligence from the heads of the two Rogue Ninja is more beneficial to the Village. Your alliance is just wishful thinking and will ultimately not be realized. Even if Hidden Mist Village allies with us, they will still betray us when they see more benefits."
This time, Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado did not stand on the same front as him. If Konoha allied with Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist, perhaps there would be no more Shinobi World Wars in the future. Once a great war starts, it is truly too cruel. They are Advisors in the Village and do not have to go to the battlefield, but their families do. If a war truly breaks out, their family's younger generations would all have to go to the battlefield; no one would be an exception.
If they can avoid fighting, it's best not to fight.
The current political structure of Hidden Mist Village is very interesting. The Fourth Mizukage has passed away, and the Fifth Mizukage has actually been chosen, but she has not gained real power, at most a mascot. All the power in the Village is in the hands of Genrou, this 90-year-old man.
In the future, it was only on the eve of the Five Kage Summit that Genrou handed the Kage hat, representing the Mizukage's authority, to Mei Terumī, officially retiring. Currently, Hidden Mist Village is under the real power of Genrou, this elder.
Homura Mitokado thought for a moment and said: "We can try to express our goodwill to Genrou."
He looked at the Third Hokage, Utatane Koharu, and Danzo Shimura: "I dealt with Genrou twice back then. If none of you object, I will represent the Village and take the Lightning Blade to Hidden Mist Village."
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